A detail from an invitation to 2011 birthday celebrations for Sir John A. Macdonald prepared for Queen's University historian Arthur Milnes.
Happy birthday, Jean Chrétien: The former Liberal prime minister celebrates his 77th birthday Tuesday, sharing it with Canada's first leader, Sir John A. Macdonald.
There is more, however, about Macdonald's birthday than the fact that he would be 196 years old today. A group in his hometown of Kingston, spearheaded by historian Arthur Milnes, wants the bicentennial of Sir John A.'s birth to be a national celebration. And it's only four years away.
"We all agreed that the bicentennial of Sir John A's birth ... is worthy of a local, regional and national celebration headquartered in Kingston, through each of the next four years and beyond," said Mr. Milnes, who is an expert on former Canadian prime ministers.
The historian's group, which met just before Christmas, includes local politicians, cultural groups, businesspeople and academics from Queen's University. It's calling itself the Sir John A. Macdonald Bicentennial Commission and is modeled after the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission in 2000.
Mr. Milnes notes the U.S. group was set up - "via Congress" - nine years before Lincoln's 200th birthday. "We are now only four years away and have nothing concrete from Ottawa," he lamented just hours before participating in birthday celebrations at the Macdonald statue in a Kingston park.
He will announce the commission's formation as part of the formal birthday ceremony, noting that they can no longer wait for the Harper government to act.
The commission has its own website and is hoping the federal government will participate at some point. It is seeking $35,000 in donations to start up.
Mr. Milnes said the celebrations around the Lincoln bicentennial re-kindled "interest in Lincoln and his legacy, increased tourism numbers for all Lincoln-related sites, sparked conferences, art shows, plays and so much more. ... Why couldn't Canadians do the same?"
He and the other commissioners are not without imagination or ideas. They want to have an art contest for students to design a national Sir John A. at 200 stamp; perhaps stage a moot court trial at Queen's over the Louis Riel hanging; write musical scores and plays commemorating Macdonald and put on a special "Macdonald-themed" session of Parliament at Kingston City Hall on Jan. 11, 2015.
The commission also wants Governor-General David Johnston to invite the Queen for the bicentennial. "We think the idea of Canada hosting the next Commonwealth Summit nearest 2015 in Kingston would be excellent as well," he added.